User reviews

It's pretty rare to see the story of a person who has actually acted to make a difference and change the world. Dan's story is just that. At times it's easy to dismiss him as a bit of a wacko who's struggling to keep going after a huge loss and gets carried away, but I think that might be because it's hard to imagine caring so deeply about something that you're willing to go to extreme lengths to make it happen. Absolutely heartbreaking, but also incredibly beautiful.

This centers around one man, Dan Schneider, who goes out on a quest to find answers about his son's death after the son gets murdered during a failed drug deal. In the way the story starts, you could never guess how it all would unfold. Dan is an amazing storyteller, and to top it off he has also documented, filmed and recorded almost everything that has happened to him since the 80's. Because of how well documented this story is, and how much material they presented to me as a viewer, I felt that the story was as nuanced as it gets. They basically left no stone unturned.

From the son's murder to the investigation of the doctor, this documentary also makes you empathize greatly with Dan's frustrations over the different situations and systems he was dealing with. And even though I have read a lot about the opioid crisis and the Purdue cases etc, I feel like I got a very unique insight of the micro and macro causes and effects of the opioid crisis. I think that a documentary like this one can really make people start questioning how complicit the drug companies, but also more importantly - the authorities have been during this epidemic.

A story of how one man driven by at first grief and later guilt did three incredible things: 1. The solving of a murder that led to exposing the negligence of the New Orleans police department.

2. The 'pill mill' scandal by doctors and corruption of police who protected one particular doctor.

3. A scandal by a billion $ pharmaceutical that affected the whole of the United States

This is the incredible story of Dan Schneider, brilliantly told by Netflix and one well worth watching.

Highly recommended.

This is an awesome documentary about a father who pursues the killer of his son and ends up finding a larger calling. Intelligent and meticulous...one man CAN make a difference.

From victim to 'crazy' hero !

The story that had to be told, ... but it could have been in two episodes.

Purdue pharmacy ruined the lives of countless Americans pushing heroin as a prescription drug.

This documentary effectively shows the local and national effects going thru the lens of 'the pharmacist'. The execs at Purdue and the FDA have blood on their hands.

It's truly disgusting what greed and no moral compass can drive people to do. Truly sickening. I hope kids can watch this and avoid opiates, because once you start it's really hard to stop.

I have seen dozens of docs/news stories about the opioid epidemic over the years - especially Oxycontin abuse by both patients and doctors alike. (The doctor's abusively prescribing them.)

I found the first episode about the shooting death of the pharmacist's son while purchasing crack a gripping story, but it didn't need to be a precursor to the other three episodes that deal with addiction and bad doctors. The common thread is that the pharmacist grieves addict son while later - after a pharmacy customer dies from Oxy - wants to help other addicts, seeking redemption of some kind, and generally being a pain in the ass to the DEA and FBI because of his annoyingly, self-admitted obsession with busting this one doc.

The documentary is dated as it chronicles the infancy and development of Oxycontin (1997-2003), but haven't we all seen on TV or read news articles about this many times before? I know I have so I was a bit bored. Good production quality, and for your sake, hopefully this is new news.

This is 10/10. Maybe you dont like the dad, or the length of the 4 episodes, or you think the show is sensationalizing the opioid crisis. Sadly, this is true. As a doctor, I have more insight and knowledge into this topic than most. How the rep talks is accurate, I've had it done to me. I've had addicted patients, I've had to report pill seeking behavior, this is real life people. Kudos to Neflix for sharing this story about reckless, immoral doctors and the big pharma industry.

This guy deserves a medal for what he did. Very brave. A nice mini series on his life experience.

Really enjoyed this. Some people crumble when disaster strikes not being able to comprehend the reason as to why. Others, try to make that disaster mean something.

The Pharmacist is ruined by its protagonist-a narcissistic man with a God complex. The whole series reeks of white privilege. These themes are real and important but I hope viewers aren't inspired by this naive vigilante quest that at times is downright reckless.

I really liked the main character in this series, the narrator of this story. Dan Schneider. Well... It's actually not one, but two connected stories: one of his sons death and one of the sequential mission work that followed. Such a unique and special guy and an overall interesting and fascinating story.

I wish I had the persistence this pharmacist had. They wouldn't listen to him until they had no choice. Worth the watch

It took a few "false starts"- 2 years worth - for me to finally ease into this series. I admit that Dan is the type of person who makes me ill at ease: Loud and pushy.

Plus - If I ever found out that my pharmacist recorded me - well, use your imagination.

That said! I admire what he did. He saw a catastrophic wrong being done to his people and patients and he decided he was the one to fix the problem. That problem wasn't about to go away on her own. I can't comment on her. My mother said that if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all. I will say she did NOT reap what she sowed. (Dan liked bible stuff.) I would have preferred some serious Old Testament for her.

We obviously need more people like him - especially in the archaic slow moving government agencies. When he sees an obstruction, he rams right through it. And it still took years.

This NOT an easy watch - at all. But you'll learn a lot. And I think you'll come to like Dan. His family is very easy to like.

Thank goodness there are still good people in the world. Thanks, Dan.

I still have the belief that men like him forced millions of Americans to Heroin and then Fentanyl, thus killing ten time the people that would've died from OxyContin. Yes big Pharma created this problem for profit, but an addict is an addict and people should be given controlled prescriptions to save lives.

I'm surprised something as real as this story has been released.. Beautiful man with humanity

My goodness, is this something... I was expecting something good seeing as it's a docuseries from Netflix and they always tend to make good ones, but this, this is a whole new level of good from Netflix.

I wouldn't really qualify it as eye opening to me because even being from Portugal, as a biochemist I've always been quite aware of the opioid problem in the US and I don't think this series could ever apply to anywhere else in the globe, but it sure showed me some new perspectives into it. The greed and lack of moral values, the arrogance of executives, it's just appalling... Imo, however, the most important part in here is that it shows law enforcement is way under-prepared for this kind of problems. All throughout the series we could see the inaction of law enforcement, either because the law itself was not properly put together for these situations or because they simply didn't know better. Some food for thought...

Anyway, the best part of the documentary is that it goes full circle, it doesn't leave you hanging for answers, and maybe in the future they can make a second part, as we're only now entering the real fight against big opioid pharma. My only real problem with it was the timeline in the first and second episodes, which could have been better, but other than that, very well done, thoroughly recommend. And a big salute to Dan Schneider, the man whose stubborn persistence even through despair led to all of this!

Way too long for what the story is, could have been done in 2 episodes.

I knew nothing about this documentary going into it. They displayed the story well. It was refreshing to see someone actually take on what this man took on. I recommend it even if you aren't that interested in the subject matter.

Its kind of strange what was America's problem today is a problem that U.k has but is kept secret as we too are on verge of painkiller and possibly heroin crisis,as what deal they made with all this extra production coming from afghanistan. America making billions of the back of their war.

Having come to terms with the killing of his son, Pharmacist Dan spots dangerous irregularities in the prescribing of wonder drug oxycontin, he begins his quest to tackle a Doctor, who's handing them out like sweets.

This is without a doubt, one of the best documentaries I've seen on Netflix, it's an insightful, no holds barred, emotional series, which explains one man's battles for the truth, for justice, he dares to take on the big boys.

Very well made, edited and put together, it links up well, and each episode is different, it progresses well, each episode providing a base for the following one.

Dan, I salute you, , definitely something of a crusader, you can't help but wonder how many more would have died, had he not pushed and pushed.

I'd heard of oxycontin, but I had no idea just how bad things had gotten with it, staggering the people involved, the corruption etc.

I applaud Netflix for making this, it's not often you hear of any criticism of the big pharmaceuticals, this series doesn't pull its punches.

Staggering, 9/10.

I was over prescribed opioids during my pregnancy over 12 years ago by an OBGYN due to an umbilical hernia. I knew nothing about them but because i hated how they felt I didn't take them, thank god but I had a hell of a stash after. I was addicted for a year an a half and put myself in detox. Doctors, even with good intentions are the biggest problem an the main link to this epidemic. This pharmacist made me cry, I wish more were like him. He took his emotional pain and tried to heal others and prevent others from pain. This is a riveting story and one that should be watched by everyone. Thank you Dan and Netflix.